Colin Donald Flynn

Shannon is the fourth of seven O'Connell children and the second youngest girl. Growing up, she was very close to her younger sister, Susannah, and her older sister, Laura. Despite this, Shannon is probably the feistiest and least stereotypically 'girly' of the four O'Connell women; from a very young age was a big fan of almost every kind of sport apart from baseball, which the rest of her family was passionate about. Although Shannon's family was surprised when at the age of thirty-five she announced she was engaged and pregnant, they weren't surprised to find her future husband was an athlete: Owen Flynn, a basketball player for the Boston Celtics. Shannon took maternity leave from her job as a sports journalist for the local newspaper and gave birth to her first son, Colin Donald Flynn, on the 25th January, 2116. Shannon and Owen have since broken off their engagement, and currently lives with her son in a small apartment in Roxbury.

Happily married to Oscar Quinn, with an adopted daughter and the possibility of a second child through surrogacy, Laura has always fought to make a way for herself in the midst of her family. She was the first O'Connell sibling to go to university, the first to move out properly and start a well paying career. Despite her efforts, for most of her life she felt like she was being eclipsed by Susannah. The phrase "anything you can do I can do better" seemed to apply for her sister. This, coupled with the rocky portion of her parents' marriage when Susannah was born which a young Laura associated with Susannah's birth, led to a resentment of her for many years. It is only in recent weeks that she has begun to repair her relationship with her.